I am an American.

Yesterday I met some children from Ireland who are staying with some relatives of mine. While spending time with them, I kept thinking about how they must have a fairly limited amount of experience with Americans, and how weird it is that I'm now personally a part of their general idea of Americans.

Storm Command by Secret Empire [08.01.12]

Way back, years ago, in the days of myspace, there was a musician named Connor Ragan, who started a music project called Secret Empire. Ever since I heard the first teaser he uploaded to his myspace page, and the full demo songs later on, I've been very much looking forward to his eventual album, Storm Command. Late last year, Secret Empire released a music video for one of the songs on the album called "Alien (Burial)". It's a great song, and I love the video. Check it out.



Storm Command is finally being released on August 1st, 2012. And I'm very excited. And it's going to be free to download! It was produced by Shaun Lopez. The very same Shaun Lopez that produced the most recent Deftones album Diamond Eyes, and that is one of the members of the band ††† (Crosses), which I am also a pretty big fan of.

Here is a short video about the making of Storm Command featuring Ragan and Lopez.



You can also listen to other songs from Storm Command, "Plastic Wrist" and "Oh Well" on youtube. And if you want to learn more, go to the Secret Empire website and facebook page.

UPDATE: The album has now been released. Go read this newer post to download the album for free.

The New School Approach To Parenting

When Patrick and I saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo back in January, although the movie was disturbing, the most disturbing thing about the experience was that a couple in the row behind us had a baby and a toddler with them.

At first I thought maybe we had gone into the wrong theater. And then I thought maybe they did, but the movie was starting and they still weren't leaving. Then I kept looking back during the more disturbing scenes of the movie to see if the parents were at least covering the kids' eyes, but they weren't. The kids were watching intently. Sometimes the baby would cry. At one point I heard the toddler ask "What is she doing?", referring to something Lisbeth Salander was doing in one of the more disturbing scenes, and I didn't hear her parents answer her. It was pretty distracting watching a movie like that knowing that a baby and a toddler are ten feet away from you.

Patrick and I saw Prometheus today, and at least I didn't notice any babies or toddlers in the audience. But a little while before the movie started, we were in Best Buy, and while I was looking at movies, I heard a guy behind me saying "If you don't stop actin' a fool, I'm gonna slap you!" I figured he was joking around with one of his friends or something, but I turned around to find it was a man saying it to a little girl, and he was pointing his finger right in her face. Great parenting, buddy.

The Afghan Whigs cover "See And Don't See"

The Afghan Whigs got back together this year to play some shows. Although I am a big fan of frontman Greg Dulli's other band The Twilight Singers, The Afghan Whigs are also one of my favorite bands, so I'm happy to see them back together.

It's unknown whether or not they are going to record a new album, but they have recorded a cover song, originally sung by Marie "Queenie" Lyons, called "See And Don't See". It was released yesterday for free on The Afghan Whigs website, making it the first new recording the band has released in over five years. You can download the song using the widget below.
 

The band will be playing the song when they appear on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, May 22nd. It will be their first appearance on television in over a decade.

Maurice Sendak

June 10, 1928 - May 8, 2012

Most people who know me well know that I'm really into children's books, especially ones I grew up with. The books Where The Wild Things Are (which he wrote and illustrated), What Do You Say, Dear?, and What Do You Do, Dear? (both of which he illustrated, but did not write) were all a huge part of my childhood, and all made an immeasurable impact on the person that I've become.

Signs That Your Partner Is A Player

There's another one of those stupid articles on the front page of Yahoo.

I'd like to revise the list of signs. It now has only one, but it's a huge one.

1. If he walks around with his shirt collar like that, he is a player, and must be dumped immediately. The only reason a man should ever have his collar like that is if he's in the act of putting on a tie.

Adam Yauch

August 5, 1964 - May 4, 2012

His style was wild. He had gall. He had guile.